Job 7 | HCSB | STEP | Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor on earth ? Are not his days like those of a hired hand ?

‏ Job 7

1 Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor ^a on earth?

Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
2 Like a slave he longs for shade;
like a hired man he waits for his pay.
3 So I have been made to inherit months of futility,
and troubled nights have been assigned to me. ^b
4 When I lie down I think:
When will I get up?
But the evening drags on endlessly,
and I toss and turn until dawn.
5 My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt. ^{▼▼Or and dirty scabs}
My skin forms scabs ^{▼▼Lit skin hardens} and then oozes. ^e

6 My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle;
they come to an end without hope. ^f
7 Remember that my life is but a breath.
My eye will never again see anything good. ^g
8 The eye of anyone who looks on me
will no longer see me.
Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone. ^h
9 As a cloud fades away and vanishes,
so the one who goes down to ^{▼▼Sheol: A Hebrew word for either the grave or the realm of the dead}Sheol ^j will never rise again.
10 He will never return to his house;
his hometown will no longer remember ^{▼▼Lit know} him. ^l

11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth.
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea ^{▼▼Or the sea god
,} ⁿ or a sea monster, ^o
that You keep me under guard?
13 When I say: My bed will comfort me,
and my couch will ease my complaint,
14 then You frighten me with dreams,
and terrify me with visions, ^p
15 so that I prefer strangling ^{▼▼Or suffocation} –
death rather than life in this body. ^{▼▼Lit than my bones
,} ^s
16 I give up! I will not live forever.
Leave me alone, ^t for my days are a breath. ^{▼▼Or are futile}

17 What is man, that You think so highly of him
and pay so much attention to him? ^v
18 You inspect him every morning,
and put him to the test every moment. ^w
19 Will You ever look away from me,
or leave me alone long enough to swallow? ^{▼▼Lit swallow my saliva?}
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to You,
Watcher of mankind?
Why have You made me Your target, ^y
so that I have become a burden to You? ^{▼▼Ancient Jewish tradition, LXX; MT, Vg read myself}
21 Why not forgive my sin
and pardon my transgression? ^aa
For soon I will lie down in the grave. ^ab
You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone. ^ac